2008 Interanational Reading Association Notable Books

The International Reading Association's special interest group: Children's Literature and Reading has formed a committee called Notable Books for a Global Society (NBGS). Each year they select outstanding trade books which enhance student understanding of people and cultures throughout the world. The first list was published in 1996. To be eligible, a trade book must be published in the United States for the first time during the year of copyrights under consideration (so books on the 2008 list have a US copyright date of 2007). Winning titles are from fiction, non fiction and poetry written for children in grades K-12.

2008 IRA CL/R Sig Notable Books (Books for A Global Society)

Historical Fiction

• Revolution is Not A Dinner Party, by Ying Chang Compestine (Henry Holt)
• Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic)
• Harlem Summer, by Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic)
• Keeping Corner, by Kashmira Sheth (Hyperion)
• Hitler's Canary, by Sandi Toksvis (Roaring Brook Press)
• Red Moon at Sharpsburg, by Rosemary Wells (Penguin)

Nonfiction

• Tasting the Sky, by Ibtisam Barakat (Straus & Giroux)
• A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah (Straus & Giroux)
• Factory Girl, by Barbara Greenwood (ON: Kids Can Press)

Realistic Fiction

• The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Young Readers)
• When Heaven Fell, by Carolyn Marsden (Candlewick)
• How to Steal a Dog, by Barbara O'Connor (Straus & Giroux)
• Rickshaw Girl, by Mitali Perkins (Charlesbridge)